Michael Angelo Merigi Caravaggio was an important Italian painter of the early Baroque period.Image: EPA ANSA
Mar 10, 2026, 3:44 p.mMar 10, 2026, 3:44 p.m
The Italian state has acquired the portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini by Caravaggio (1571-1610). The purchase agreement was signed on Tuesday at the Ministry of Culture in Rome.
Once the administrative procedures have been completed, the work will be included in the collection of the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli spoke of an “extraordinary masterpiece” that the Italian state had managed to acquire after more than a year of negotiations.
Caravaggio painted only a few portraits.Image: EPA ANSA
The painting shows the future Pope Urban VIII, then Bishop Maffeo Barberini, around the age of 30 as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber. The attribution to Caravaggio goes back to the art historian Roberto Longhi, who first identified the work as an authentic portrait of the painter in the specialist magazine “Paragone” in 1963.
Caravaggio: not a portrait painter
Caravaggio painted only a few portraits; just three are considered to have been handed down with certainty. Accordingly, such a work rarely appears on the art market, the ministry said. The picture, which was privately owned, had been on temporary display in the Palazzo Barberini since November 2024, including as part of the large exhibition “Caravaggio 2025”, which attracted more than 450,000 visitors.
According to the ministry, the purchase is one of the most important investments by the Italian state in a work of art. The aim is to permanently secure the painting for public collections and make it accessible to researchers and the public. In the future, the portrait will be on display in the Palazzo Barberini alongside other works by Caravaggio.
It was only in February that the Italian state acquired the painting “Ecce Homo” by the Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina (approx. 1430-1479) before its planned auction in New York. The purchase price was $14.9 million. (sda/apa)